A new type of blood test is starting to transform cancer treatment, sparing some patients the surgical and needle biopsies long needed to guide their care.

The tests, called liquid biopsies, capture cancer cells or DNA that tumors shed into the blood, instead of taking tissue from the tumor itself.

In the pockets of the rugged mountains near the Lebanese border, the distinctive yellow flag of Hizbullah now flies where al-Qaida militants once held sway.

These gains in the Qalamoun Mountains represent a bright spot for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, now reeling from a unified insurgent assault in the country's northwest. And again, they show the influence of the Lebanese group in Syria's civil war, grinding on into its fifth year after more than 220,000 people were killed.

San Francisco has become the first city in the nation to outlaw chewing tobacco from its playing fields, including AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants.

Players and the manager of the team expressed support for the ordinance signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee on Friday but also concern about breaking the chewing habit.

Federal health regulators have questions about the benefits of an experimental combination drug for cystic fibrosis, including whether the addition of a second drug ingredient adds to the pill's effectiveness.

The Food and Drug Administration said in an online review that Vertex Pharmaceuticals' drug improved breathing in patients with the deadly inherited disease, but that the effect was small.

An Arkansas veterinarian has kept a dog from going out with a bang after the animal ate 23 live rifle rounds.

Benno, the 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, had surgery last week to remove the .308 caliber ammunition from his stomach, The Baxter Bulletin (http://bit.ly/1QoyXHL ) reported.

An Indiana teenager who took his 93-year-old great-grandmother to his junior prom says he had a great time, even though her early bedtime nearly cut the night short.

Drew Holm says his classmates thought it "was pretty cool" that he asked Kathryn Keith to last Friday's Crothersville High School junior prom.

Prosecutors charged a woman they say broke into the Los Angeles-area home of Chris Brown and spent several days there before the singer returned with felony burglary, stalking and vandalism.

Amira Kodcia Ayeb, 21, was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered her to stay at least 100 yards from Brown, though she was being held on $220,000 bail, according to a court spokeswoman.

A Nigerian art critic and museum director is the first African to curate the Biennale contemporary art fair that opens Saturday for its seven-month run, while female artists are representing more countries than ever in national pavilions — trends seen as an informal rebalancing in the art world.

There's Joan Jonas for the United States, Fiona Hall for Australia, Irina Nakhova for Russia, Sarah Lucas for Great Britain, Chiharu Shiota for Japan, Pamela Rosenkranz for Switzerland and Camille Norment for Norway. And those women are all from the more established Biennale participants in the Giardini, around one-third of the 89 national pavilions.

Before going up to Mauna Kea's summit on Hawaii's Big Island, Heather Kaluna makes an offering to Poliahu, the snow goddess of the mountain. She holds it sacred, as do other Native Hawaiians.

The mountain holds another important place in her life: Poised to be the first Native Hawaiian to get an astronomy doctorate from the University of Hawaii, she uses the mountain to gaze at the stars.

Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives won a stunning victory in Britain's election on Friday, which cut short the careers of his top three rivals and put the country's European Union future in doubt.

Widespread predictions of a close contest with the opposition Labor party turned out to be wide of the mark, as Cameron won 331 out of 650 parliament seats and a new term as head of a majority Tory government.